Things seem to be getting worse and worse for the Red Sox lately. After a brutal 15-inning affair, the Sox were left with another string of goose eggs Saturdayin a 5-0 loss to the Yankees. The Yanks scored a run in each of the third, sixth, and seventh innings, before a two-run home run by Derek Jeter in the bottom of the eight sealed the deal.

The trouble began in the first, when Kevin Youkilis, starting in left field in place of the injured Jason Bay, dropped a fly ball and was given a fielding error as a result; he would fail to reach a similar ball in the fifth. Alex Rodriguez in the first inning thought he was hit by a pitch, though the umpire ruled it had just passed over him and called the pitch a foul ball after it hit A-Rod’s bat.

CC Sabathia pitched a gem to take the third game of the series from Boston, tossing 7.2 innings of scoreless, two hit baseball. Surprisingly, Clay Buchholz performed pretty well (especially for him) going six innings and giving up two runs on six hits. Unfortunately, his improvement wasn’t enough.

Sox Stud of the Game: No One

It was simply another lackluster night for the entire Red Sox roster.

Sox Dud of the Game: The Offense

For the second night in a row, the Red Sox bats were held scoreless. They’ve been so quiet lately, I keep thinking I’ll see some tumbleweed blow across the field at any moment.

That’s What He Said:

“I wouldn’t mind a brawl; maybe it would spark about five guys to hit and the rest can take the suspension .” – LolliniBosoxFan on mlb.com, likely speaking about the heated pitching and warnings from the umpire tonight not to retaliate.

Game Notes:

W: CC Sabathia (12-7)
L: Clay Buchholz (1-2)

CC Sabathia had a perfect game going until the fifth, when he walked David Ortiz.

He kept a no-hitter going until the sixth, when Jacoby Ellsbury singled.

Ramon Ramirez was ejected in the seventh for intentionally hitting A-Rod with a pitch.

The Red Sox are now 5.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East and 1.0 games ahead of the Rangers for the Wildcard spot.